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September 15, 2001
Quick Picks
IntelliTools Reading: Balanced Literacy
Emphasis: Reading comprehension.
Grade Level: K-1 and beginning readers. Platform: Mac/Win CD.
Price: $299 single copy; lab packs and site licenses available.
Publisher: IntelliTools, Inc.; Petaluma, CA; (800) 899-6687
Backed by the research findings of a National Institutes of Health study, Balanced Literacy is an interactive program designed to supplement the traditional reading curriculum. Organized into a yearlong sequence of literacy lessons, the program works as both an independent and collaborative activity for primary-aged students.
Balanced Literacy effectively organizes lessons into nine month-long, sequential units. Students begin each unit by reading short, animal-themed electronic books. In the Sea and Australian Animals, for example, are each accompanied by 16 daily lessons and up to six student activities, which include guided reading, phonics instruction, and structured writing tasks. Text can be read aloud continuously or word by word. Exploration activities extend reading themes with playful tasks, such as sending animals to bed by clicking on their icon. Each click prompts a sentence, e.g., "Away went the cow," to reinforce word-image recognition. However, to insure that exploratory clicking does not register as wrong answers, teachers will need to remind students that their responses to review activities are recorded.
A printed teacher's guide accompanies thorough electronic assessment reports. Balanced Literacy also accommodates students with special needs, featuring adaptable input ports for an alternative keyboard or mouse and customized font sizes.
With simple, appealing graphics and intuitive navigation, the program lets kids move around easily, and the animal themes are sure to delight and interest them. Overall, Balanced Literacy is a well-thought-out approach to helping students master core reading skills.
Evaluator: Iris Obille Lafferty, Ed.D., educational consultant and researcher.
Beyond Books
Emphasis: Online Ciriculum; teacher resource.
Grade Level: 6-12. Platform: Web Site.
Price: $100 minimium purchase requirement at $2-$6 per student.
Publisher: New Forum Publishers, Inc (877) 946-4622
Beyond Books delivers an online alternative to traditional textbooks, with 21 semester-long, standards-based programs in social studies, science, language arts, and electives.
Helpful program outlines organize content so users can explore topics according to their interests. Click on a topic and Beyond Books' "pages" divide in two. On the right side students find the curriculum, for example, a discussion about the connection between the American frontier and American literature; the left side includes related facts and trivia, with links to additional Web resources. Study questions and interactive quizzes populate activity holdings in all curricular areas. While marketed for middle school students, the scope and register of the curriculum seems more appropriate for high-schoolers.
Highlights of the program include the password-protected Teacher Door, where teachers will find hundreds of valuable lesson plans, all linked to Beyond Books' curriculum. Additionally, a Guest Experts feature puts students and teachers in touch for real-time chat with specialists such as Dr. Jon Nese, chief meteorologist at the Franklin Institute Science Museum, who joined students online to talk about wild weather patterns.
Beyond Books adorns traditional textbook content with screened links, fun factoids, and helpful activities for both teacher and student. Basic animation, audio, and illustrative graphics help to strategically break up text, and no plug-ins are necessary. Beyond Books' site is Java-based, so content loads quickly.
Evaluator: Stephen Hettleman, writer and high school English teacher.
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